Style Counsel

Garcia's critics appear to be more concerned with his style than with the substance of his accomplishments ["How to Win Enemies and Influence People," by Jeffrey Felshman, August 30].

Even if we were to only credit Rick Garcia with a lesser number of accomplishments, it appears that he and his few talented associates have single-handedly achieved more in Illinois than most other organizations put together.

If the gay community finds itself like an endangered ship in the midst of a hurricane, I would rather have a decisive, driven, passionate, goal- and action-oriented "captain" like Garcia in charge to get us to the "safer waters" of full equality for all gays and lesbians than have multiple layers of boards and committees waste their time in meetings listening to themselves while the "ship" keeps going in circles.

Your detailed story also made a convincing case study of how a few resourceful, dedicated, die-hard individuals achieved much on what was often only a "shoestring budget."

While firebrand activists are frequently known to mellow with age, I hope for the sake of the gay community any of Garcia's mellowing to be delayed for a while.